".exe" is fine in principle, they are self-extracting disk images. Unfortunately they are not original. There is no point in making the floppies. The original poster is asking for "hash perfect" or "untouched" or "original" images, in other words exact images of the disks as originally distributed by Microsoft. If you make the floppies yourself today from inside Windows 95, they will not be identical.
The problem with hash perfect is the "Windows 95 C" install floppy doesn't include the CD driver and makes it impossible to use the 95 cd without it .. So hash perfect is a dead end for all practical purposes .. The 98 install floppy allows you to install all 95 cd's
The closest I have is 16-bits.org/etc/w95bootv44.ima but it has dates modified in 1999. Notice how this boot disk image has a readme.txt from Microsoft, and a DOS wizard that asks to format and partition your drive, as well as setting up the CD-ROM so it can automatically start <cd-rom>:\setup.exe. WinDev: Your boot disk images are still made from within Windows, they don't have the CD-ROM driver and they're not "authentic" in the way of collecting the boot disk (image) that came with the OS CD. Fun fact: Did you know that you can open these "BOOT95*.EXE" files in WinImage and extract the contents? They are made with WinImage's EXE maker.
Do you know for sure the original, genuine Win95C floppy disk delivered had a CD-ROM driver aboard? As I interpret that post it doesn't, that's why you find mostly modified ones (with the BANANA stuff).
I don't think 8bitbubsy cares about whether the floppy has a CD-ROM driver or not. He specifically asked for the original disk that MS shipped. If that did not include a CD-ROM driver, that's fine. He is a collector. He wants an original image. For practical solutions for booting from a floppy with CD-ROM driver, there are many ways, but he is not after that.
You can make original image in Add or Remove Programs/Startup Disk. Check post #23 for disks of all versions.
I found these Windows 95, 98, ME 3.5" bootdisk images at Winworld (SHA1, crc32, file name). Can someone say if they are original or homebrew? Code: a96dec68d45c0724de74a7f3a138efe15ce406d6 3227b67b Microsoft Windows 95 Boot.img fb8520a0bb6ad376f4842a64d53a19e449f67658 e5674328 Microsoft Windows 95 OSR2 Boot (OAK CD-ROM).img c5124a2206532af96fb77e087f70f66fc7a094be 8353ffb2 Windows 98 First Edition Boot.img 322cc0ed5091c5d37f3081f0e6609ad778232631 1f5c3b00 Windows 98 Second Edition Boot.img 6dd1bcc0fe492d2e5961c5f9f85039445bfe47e9 69b0df66 Microsoft Windows ME Setup Disk (OAK).img Are these all disks or are there more/other disks?
first question: did you know what kind of image this file's are ? - Boot sector image from CD (1.44MB boot sector) - or original Floppy image (floppy dump) this is verry importand (floppy images are lets say branded by serial Key) second: what exact version this images are ? my experience: WinworldPC is homebrew on over 80% i have: Code: 28f3fc8934633e15c83a2830a15a0973c44cb4f5 *en_win95a_osr1.0_boot_CD.exe 225b6090df30f9f2f63ee04dd7f39fe182e8c906 *en_win95a_osr1.0_boot_CD.img f1adad4b091ef6c2e63ee02eeeebd218c145f0d9 *en_win95a_osr1.0_boot_FD.img 659eb42973a3dc7239de80428b069e8e1af7eba3 *en_win95b_osr2_Boot00_OEM_20000426.img 47528eaf0ed14bab1d8ac8e3f2ee5b21f602143f *Windows 95b (with CD driver).img 0451104ff5b383ff43bbcb909002d8d22441757b *Windows 95b 2.1.img c102e3e41bf81758674dab91fc6ec40b9d7acbbe *Windows 95c.img to identify homemade images, you have to - Check the floppy image header (type / kind and boot sector) - Check the data sector (timestamps etc) - Determine the fragmentation of the floppy - check how free space is filled inside the image (00 or whatewer)
I see. So it seems best to me to buy sealed new old stock Win9x/ME packs to get unmodified original disk images.
Did OSR2.5 even come with a boot floppy at all? I know the CD is not bootable, so maybe it did... I think the Win95B floppy image on bootdisk.com is not genuine, because it names the CD-ROM "banana" in config.sys/autoexec.bat. Someone should indeed find a sealed copy and make an image of the floppy. I'm really interested in it, and I'm sure other enthusiasts would love to have it in their collection of unmodified Windows images as well. EDIT: Actually! Now that I remember from images and youtube, I think it comes with a floppy disk label only that you put on a floppy, then you create the CD-ROM boot yourself, ironically. This might suggest that there is no real image, as the one you create will have the specific drivers needed, according to SCSI/IDE controllers and so forth. Windows 95B never had a retail edition anyways.